


Reunited, for Good or for Ill

by CelesteIsHere



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Autistic Keith (Voltron), Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mother-Son Relationship, Trans Keith (Voltron), Written pre s6, at least the beginning of one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-03-03
Packaged: 2019-03-26 13:59:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13859205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelesteIsHere/pseuds/CelesteIsHere
Summary: Keith has found his mother, after 15 years, he's found her. He has some goddamn questions.





	Reunited, for Good or for Ill

His eyes widen. “You’re my-” He stops himself. He doesn’t want to call her “Mom”; she doesn’t deserve that. 

Keith wants to scream and shout, kick and stomp around, make her feel guilty about leaving him, about fucking him up for life. His throat constricts before he can do any of that, though, and he has to clench his jaw and focus on his breathing to stop the tears from flowing. 

Krolia isn’t saying anything else. Why won’t she say anything? Maybe she’s waiting for his reaction, to see if he’ll say “It’s okay that you left me before I knew how to tie my shoelaces, and gave me abandonment, trust, and intimacy issues, I forgive you”. Does she know how much he missed her? How long he cried over her? How many times his dad came home drunk and told him it was his fault? Does she even care? 

When he spares a glance at her, though, it’s clear that she does know. Her softened gaze is locked on his face, love and guilt in her eyes, and her mouth tugging on her frown lines. She seems to be half-lost in thought.

Keith takes a deep breath. 

“Why did you leave me?” He asks plainly, as if asking for the temperature.

She, too, takes a deep breath. “For two reasons. The first was the main reason. I don’t look human, and Earth didn’t know of aliens then. You were four when I left, and you lived an isolated life. Your whole life was the little house we had in the desert, and that wasn’t good for you. You had fits if one of us was gone for an hour, and that would have gotten worse as you grew up. We couldn’t live in a neighborhood, you couldn’t have friends over, and I couldn’t take you anywhere. I thought you would have a better life if I left.

“The second reason is that I had a duty to fulfil with the Blades. Saving the universe, and all that. But, I didn’t want to leave you; I didn’t, but the cons of me staying were far greater than the pros.” A humorless half-smile cracks across her face. “Hah. You have no idea how long I’ve been practicing that answer.”

Keith doesn’t know what to say. She thought he would have a better life? 

“Yeah, well I still had a terrible life without you there, so I guess your plan didn’t work out.” The words spill out of his mouth before he can stop them. “Dad was terrible, he almost gave me more bruises than the fucking foster home he put me in.”

Her mouth opens in shock, and she takes a step back, reeling from what he said. “He- what? He… I trusted him with you. I…” Her face turns to stony anger and her voice drips with malice and betrayal. “I will fucking kill him the second I lay eyes on him.” 

Keith’s eyes widen at her intensity. 

Krolia put her hand over her mouth and tried to control her panting breaths. She drags her hand through her hair, and then drops it limply at her side. “I’m… I’m so sorry, Keith. If I had known he was like that… I never would have left you with him. Never.” She says that with such sincerity that it takes the air from Keith’s lungs.

She loves him. She loves him more than anything, he can see that now. He isn’t used to someone being this earnest him, and it’s suffocating. He wants out of this small pod they’re stuck in, to run away. More questions pop into his mind, so he tries focus on them instead.

“How did you know my name? You didn’t call me by my deadname, you said ‘Keith’.”

Krolia’s distressed expression softens a little. “I always knew you were going to be a boy. You look like a boy, sound like one, are referred to as one, and every member of the Blade calls you ‘Keith’, so it wasn’t too hard to figure out. I am a little upset I can’t call you ‘sunny girl’ anymore, but I guess ‘baby boy’ will be fine.” She gives him a half-smile.

Annoyance prickles at him. “Don’t call me that,” He says coldly, even though his heart has never felt so warm.

“I won’t.” Krolia gives him a smirk; she knows he’s embarrassed. She moves over to the pilot seat and sits down. “Not yet, at least. We need to get reacquainted, first.”

Keith sighs and takes a seat. “I don’t even know what to call you.” He doesn’t elaborate.

“You used to call me ‘KK’ when you were a baby, before you called me ‘Mommy’.” She says absently.

Keith’s nose scrunches up. “I don’t like that either.”

She gives him another small smile. “Then just refer to me in the second person like I did with my mother. It’s equally uncomfortable.” 

He doesn’t respond. A silence falls between them; it’s uncomfortable, but not unbearable. Keith struggles to focus on the screen in front of him, emotions clogging his brain. Where do they go from here? Back to the Blades, but after that, what? Is she going to dote on him, worry about him, make sure he’s eating and sleeping well? He wants to be disgusted at the thought, and feels betrayed when a longing feeling starts to make his chest ache. 

Krolia breaks the quiet. “Have the Blades been treating you well?” 

‘Fuck off’, Keith almost says. Instead, his eyes well up, and he shrugs. “Yeah, I guess.”

She nods. “That’s good. They tend to take that ‘victory or death’ thing too far. I’ve been left in a near-death situation more than a few times. They better not do the same to you.”

He doesn’t say anything. They sit in silence again, and it lasts until they get back to the base. The only words they share then, are a bid of farewell as Kolivan whisks Krolia away to a briefing, and Keith returns to his room.

His feet drag through the door into the barren room; his energy has been all but drained. His armor falls to the ground with a clang as he tiredly pulls it off. He grabs a weighted blanket he stole from someone during laundry day and wraps it around his frame, then, finally, collapses onto bed. 

It’s at this point where all the emotions pour out of him, an explosion of water bursting through a dam. The blanket around his face muffles the sobs that wrack through his body- something he’s very grateful for. The walls aren’t soundproof like they are in the castleship. 

Eventually, the tears die down, and Keith is left feeling drained and exhausted. His spoons were used up long ago, and all he can really think about now is going to sleep. As he drifts off, he hears his door open halfway. He cracks his eyes open and just catches his mother’s hand placing a box of Galran chocolates on the ground, then the door closing.

He’s too tired to do anything but smile, and fall asleep.


End file.
